Big Apple Adventures: Fore!

August 22

Couldn’t have asked for a nicer day in the city! Unlike much of the summer, there was no insane heatwave putting a damper on the fun.

My mom suggested I start “experiencing” the city instead of just walking around taking pictures like a tourist. Following her advice, I decided it was time to start getting creative with how I spend my time in the Big Apple.

Summy and I met up in the city around lunchtime and we were surprised to discover that much of 8th ave. had been closed off for some sort of street fair. With the exception of all the skyscrapers, it felt very Midwestern to me. We didn’t buy anything, but it was still enjoyable to look. (Bonus: it was far less crowded than the heart of Times Square)

We had entered our names into the ticket lottery for the afternoon showing of Aladdin, and despite the crowd being surprisingly small, we didn’t win. So we moved on to plan B…

I had suggested playing a game of mini golf (a long-time summer hobby for my family) and the two of us made plans to head to the course on Pier 25.

Since it would be a rather lengthy walk, we opted for the subway. I understand that it’s too difficult to have construction work done on the system during the week, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying on the weekends. Construction forced us to transfer to another train…or so we thought.

After waiting for at least 20 minutes, we came to the conclusion that the ‘E’ train was not coming. (Unlike other people on the platform who apparently thought waiting over an hour for a train was normal). Just as we were about to leave, I had an intense dizzy spell. The heat and humidity down in the station combined with my low blood sugar (it was past lunch time) meant I was feeling quite ill. I thought I had a brilliant idea by popping a mint in my mouth to temporarily raise my blood sugar…until I remembered yesterday that they’re sugar-free. Whoops.

I felt better almost immediately after getting back on ground level, but we decided we couldn’t put off lunch any longer. We stopped into this quaint place in Greenwich village called Meltkraft. It’s hard not to like a place whose entire menu is based around grilled cheese!

Although my sandwich was delicious (Summy also seemed to enjoy hers), I had lost much of my appetite by that point. I was more thirsty than anything and chugged my bottle of soda before I even got my sandwich. When I went to buy a large fountain drink to quench my never-ending thirst, the cashier told me it was on the house. I was truly stunned.

We then decided to walk east towards the Hudson River, then make our way south to mini golf. You never know what kind of things you’ll see on the boardwalk, and both Summy and I were pretty amused by this particular statue.

Apparently we weren’t the only ones who decided to putt; there was a line just for the first hole! It was only $6 though and such a nice day that you can’t blame people for wanting to have some fun.

The course was, in my opinion, just mediocre. There was no real theme and the obstacles were not very challenging. I guess I should just be happy that you can even find mini golf in Manhattan!

As we made our way through the course, parents with restless/impatient kids started to leave, freeing up much of the back 9. We had already been spending much of our time standing in the hot sun, and both of us were really thirsty, so we were happy to move things along. Despite spending 90 minutes on 18 holes (I’m not even exaggerating), I still had fun.

I was also amused by a conversation between a couple in front of us. We were all watching a competitive game of beach volleyball taking place between a bunch of tan, buff guys on the court next to the course. I heard the guy in front of me say to his girlfriend, “Or you could pay attention to your boyfriend who’s trying to show you how to swing instead of watching a bunch of dudes playing volleyball.”

It took all I had not to burst out laughing.

Big Apple Adventures: Burgers and Bears

August 8:

I went to the city with absolutely no plan or desire to see anything in particular, so I figured I would just wing it.

The only thing I had in mind when I got there was getting my hands on a juicy burger; something I haven’t eaten since I have been in NJ.

I stopped into the first place I spotted in Times Square: Schnipper’s. It looked incredibly familiar to me, so I thought it was just a knock-off of Shake Shack. I was wrong. I guess on my trip to NYC in fall 2012 we did not eat at Shake Shack like I had previously thought. It was Schnipper’s. Whoops.

Despite the fact that it looks like a giant lettuce patty, it was delicious! The picture doesn’t do it justice.

After lunch I stopped into Midtown Comics to see what they had to offer. I don’t actually read comics, but I do enjoy looking at all of the memorabilia.

I thought, “hey maybe I’ll ‘meet a guy’ while I’m here?”

Nope.

Sure, the place was loaded with guys but it seems I was just in their way. Okay then; at least I got to see some cool stuff.

I spent most of my time after that walking by the shops on Fifth Ave. I was trying to lfind some things to add to my work wardrobe but had little success.

I did stumble upon a store called “It’s Always Christmas in New York,” and had a blast! It’s only August and I’m already in the Christmas spirit! I also picked up a cute ornament to hang on my tree this year.

I ended my excursion at the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain in Central Park for a quick rest (and a new profile picture for Facebook).

August 15:

After passing by the Central Park Zoo countless times, I decided it was finally time to actually visit.

Spoiler alert: it’s nothing like the movie Madagascar. Not only is it far more aesthetically pleasing, but the animals are very different. Each of the zoos in NYC’s boroughs has a different set of animals from various regions around the world. It’s actually a cool concept if you think about it!

So no… Marty, Melman, Gloria and Alex were not there.

Taking the subway to get there proved to be more of a hassle than I would have expected. The A train was operating on the local track, so I missed it not realizing it was running right behind me. The next time it came by there were so many people getting off the car that the doors shut before anyone else could get on. It was like something out of a TV show. By the time I got on the third A train, I realized I actually could’ve taken the earlier C trains.

Oh well. Live and learn, right?

By the time I finally got to the zoo I was quite sweaty but still excited to finally check it out. I knew it was going to be the smallest of those I’ve visited, but that was perfectly fine with me on such a hot day!

Small doesn’t mean bad though, and I was definitely pleased with their exhibits.

I made the mistake of going into the rainforest exhibit first. Not that it mattered; there’s no good time to go into a tropical building. I always had a love/hate relationship with the rainforest building at the Cleveland Zoo, as well. Although it had some of my favorite animals, I usually felt like I was trapped in humidity Hell.

One thing that definitely surprised me about this zoo was how close together the exhibits were. I nearly missed a few not realizing there was anything to see. For the most part, all of the zoos I’ve been to in the Midwest have required a hefty amount of walking. But when it’s 90 degrees out, you don’t want to be doing a lot of walking anyway!

There was a pretty distinct pattern of behavior among all of the outdoor animals. Can you guess what it was?

Well, when you go to a zoo in the summer, I guess you have to expect lazy animals. At least I got some good views!

The sea lions were pretty active, but  they were getting food and had a cold pool to swim in. They almost had it as good as the penguins, basking in their Arctic exhibit. I’d be happy too if I were living in an air-conditioned box (and believe me, I was on Cloud 9 in there for that very reason)

I decided to pass on the admission that included a 4D movie (seriously, $6 for that?) but general admission did include a visit to the Children’s Zoo.

Although I thought it was cute, it was basically your traditional barnyard animals. My favorites were the Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs.

They also had patagonian cavies (an odd choice) but I had no idea what they were at the time thanks to the absence of a sign.

So after 2 1/2 hours or so, the shortest zoo visit I’ve ever experienced, I decided I needed some parting gifts.

The first: a keychain to add to my collection (pictured below). I’m going to pretend those aren’t polar bears on there; this zoo didn’t even have them!

The second: ridiculously over-priced, tiny balls of ice cream known as Dippin Dots.

I couldn’t leave the city without a stop to see the larger-than-life statue of the famous photograph of the sailor kissing the nurse. What a sight!

Finally, while walking through Port Authority to head back home, I heard some random guy (the second of the day) yell out that he liked the Rugrats shirt I was wearing.

Made my day.